The Fall of the House of Usher Blu-ray

Posted August 8, 2013 02:30 PM by Webmaster

British distributors Arrow Video have officially announced and detailed their upcoming Blu-ray release of exploitation maestro Roger Corman's The Fall of the House of Usher (1960), starring Vincent Price, Mark Damon, and Myrna Fahey. The release will be available for purchase online and in shops across the United Kingdom on August 26th.

When Philip Winthrop (Mark Damon) visits his fiancée Madeleine Usher (Myrna Fahey) in her crumbling family mansion, her brother Roderick (Price) tries to talk him out of the wedding, explaining that the Usher family is cursed and that extending its bloodline will only prolong the agony. Madeleine wants to elope with Philip, but neither of them can predict what ruthless lengths Roderick will go to in order to keep them apart.

Richard Matheson's intelligent, literate script is enhanced by Floyd Crosby's stylish widescreen cinematography, but it's Vincent Price's anguished conviction in one of his signature roles that makes the film so chillingly memorable over half a century on.

Special Features:

High-definition presentation of the feature, transferred and restored using the original elements provided by MGM.

Original uncompressed 2.0 Mono PCM Audio

Optional English SDH subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing

Audio commentary with director and producer Roger Corman

Legend to Legend: An interview with director and former Corman apprentice Joe Dante

Interview with author and Gothic horror expert Jonathan Rigby

Fragments of the House of Usher: A Specially-commissioned video essay by critic and filmmaker David Cairns examining Corman's film in relation to Poe's story

Collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film by author and critic Tim Lucas and an extract from Vincent Price's long out of print autobiography, illustrated with original archive stills and posters

Note: In addition to the standard release, Arrow Video will also release a Limited SteelBook Edition of The Fall of the House of Usher.

The artwork for both releases are great but the trouble is, this film just isnt near Vincent Price's best. I might pick it up if its cheap at some point. Now if they can just go to all the trouble they have for this one and apply that to his better 60's and 70's films that will be a different story!